The author of this piece used to work for Apple in the App Store team, if that matters. I mention it because it's not disclosed on that page and I think it should be. At the launch of Apple Arcade...
The author of this piece used to work for Apple in the App Store team, if that matters. I mention it because it's not disclosed on that page and I think it should be.
At the launch of Apple Arcade I also worked at Apple, but not in the App Store team. When it was announced I found the instant cancellation of the Trial period very un-Apple like. That made me think that somebody, somewhere lacked belief in the offering.
My thoughts on Apple Arcade: it's great that games don't have ads or microtransactions in them, but that doesn't automatically make them all great. The reality is that most Apple Arcade games have a long, flat difficulty curve and slow-paced progression so as to keep the player invested longer than the free trial period. So really we're no better off. It's just a different type of nastiness.
As long as people don't want to pay premium for premium games (and even then, premium games are struggling to make a profit), I don't really see how that can be avoided. You either have a game...
As long as people don't want to pay premium for premium games (and even then, premium games are struggling to make a profit), I don't really see how that can be avoided. You either have a game that tries to drip feed content or console games port for a quick buck while not taking advantage of the different control scheme. Neither are optimal from a game design POV.
The secondary issue I see is that no new company wants to make the massive investment needed to break into that premium market. Microsoft took decades to really get in and they are arguably still last in market share. I don't blame others for not wanting to try, but all this big tech seems to instantly want what the big 3 slowly invested in over decades.
And Ofc the main issue is that most people don't mind nor care about the f2p model. I hear the best market for this is actually families who are more conscious about having their wallet drained by unaware small kids, but who knows if that market can sustain such a service.
The long, drawn-out games were not present at Apple Arcade launch. It was a secondary strategy that appeared some time later. So, it definitely could be avoided ...because it already was avoided...
The long, drawn-out games were not present at Apple Arcade launch. It was a secondary strategy that appeared some time later. So, it definitely could be avoided ...because it already was avoided in the early days.
Yep. I finally caved because I found out there were more zen pinball tables and figured I’d find a few more games my speed. Really haven’t found much. Metro + when I already have the original,...
Yep. I finally caved because I found out there were more zen pinball tables and figured I’d find a few more games my speed. Really haven’t found much.
Metro + when I already have the original, finity, sts which I already have on pc, ditto on turmoil, and then tiny wings as a decent no thought time sink(that puts annoying achievements in the way of just doing the thing you want to do).
I’ve found little else that even catches my eye. It all looks like the same stuff
A few years ago I liked quite a few mobile games. It was pretty cool to get a little game for less than 5 dollars and play it for a few weeks. I stopped playing them when almost all of them became...
A few years ago I liked quite a few mobile games. It was pretty cool to get a little game for less than 5 dollars and play it for a few weeks. I stopped playing them when almost all of them became skinner boxes to get you to pay more than the games are worth.
So Apple arcade sounds like a good value. No ads or in-app purchases, and games maybe don't have to try to condition you to keep playing or spending more money.
But I don't know, I quit Apple Arcade after a short time because I really didn't like the games there. Some of them are just versions of typical app store games with the ads removed, so they are terrible. But there are others that are much better but are still not very interesting. Maybe it's just me, but somehow I feel like the soul was sucked out of the games to make them non-controversial. It's hard to explain, but there is something artificial or something about them. I would give specific examples but it's been a while and most of the games were not memorable enough. One was a "where's waldo" type game. One was sort of an puzzle adventure where you repair things. One was sort of a typing tutor. Anyway, there was just something boring and superficial about the games and I just can't put my finger on what it was.
When I was in high school, I saved up all my lunch money in freshman year to buy a first generation iPad. This coincided with what I think was the golden age of mobile gaming, where none of the...
When I was in high school, I saved up all my lunch money in freshman year to buy a first generation iPad. This coincided with what I think was the golden age of mobile gaming, where none of the games were well-monetized and there was a gold-rush of indie developers breaking into the scene. There were basically no in-app purchases, and games were usually a couple of bucks with no ads.
I remember playing OG Fruit Ninja, Angry Birds.
One of my favorites was called Tilt-to-Live, where you control a little arrow by tilting your device to escape enemies and collect power-ups in an area the size of the screen. It was incredibly addictive learning to thread the eye of the needle as the screen filled up with enemies.
There were a tower defense game involving aliens that was super fun.
I also remember some multiplayer strategy game that was kind of like Risk, but less complicated, real-time instead of turn-based, and involving conquering planets. (The skill was deciding how many of your planets to commit to an attack an enemy planet. Use too many ships and you'll be vulnerable to counterattack. Use too few and fail, and your enemy will regenerate their ships faster than you and attack you next.)
There was also a 2D platformer game where you played as a spider creeping through a house with beautiful artwork and music.
I can't remember what some of these games were called (and I lost my Apple ID from that time, since it was before I used a password manager).
When I got my new iPad Pro 12.9" and checked out the top games in the app store, none of them had a similar degree of substance and soul as those early games I played on my first iPad so many years ago. Maybe great indie mobile games exist, but they're not topping the charts anymore.
The state of the app store now is sad. I feel like every top downloaded game today has been around for 10 years. At the start Square Enix used to develop entire JRPGs entirely for the iPod touch....
The state of the app store now is sad. I feel like every top downloaded game today has been around for 10 years.
At the start Square Enix used to develop entire JRPGs entirely for the iPod touch.
My favorite developer used to be Donut Games. They had like 40 games total and all were super fun with a unique art style.
That multiplayer strategy game sounds a lot like "Galaxy on Fire: Alliances." But that was an early mobile-based MMORPG, so not sure if it was the same. Either way, I had tons of fun in GOFA,...
That multiplayer strategy game sounds a lot like "Galaxy on Fire: Alliances." But that was an early mobile-based MMORPG, so not sure if it was the same. Either way, I had tons of fun in GOFA, sometime staying up way too late with my alliance-mates to protect our planets or attack others' planets, since the playerbase was global. We used LINE to communicate with each other and the rest of the playerbase, which was amazing compared to any chat program I'd seen or used previously.
But yeah, I agree with your assessment. I played tons of mobile games on my IPod Touch, iPod Mini, and then 4S. The whole reason I moved from Android to iOS was because the AppStore had better games (and was more organized). Sure there was some monetization, but it rarely got in the way of the game itself. I think the first game that I played where monetization seriously hindered gameplay was Candy Crush. Since then, I've mostly stayed away from mobile games. Every once in a blue moon I'll find something that looks interesting and fun, but I never really commit. Probably because I'm wary of their monetization schemes. I'm not anti-MTX; I buy skins and stuff on PC/console games. I just think it's way too predatory on mobile.
That looks a whole lot like Galcon, an older strategy game where you send triangles to planets to take them over and produce more units. Perhaps a clone?
That looks a whole lot like Galcon, an older strategy game where you send triangles to planets to take them over and produce more units. Perhaps a clone?
Galcon 3 is being actively developed! I just joined Phil Hassey's Galcon3 discord and he's been posting updates since last November. https://galcon3.com
Galcon 3 is being actively developed! I just joined Phil Hassey's Galcon3 discord and he's been posting updates since last November.
Sadly, no good deed goes unpunished. Even on IOS piracy was pretty big for those cheap games. And Android was the wild west. The main way to circumvent piracy was the same start to how to...
Sadly, no good deed goes unpunished. Even on IOS piracy was pretty big for those cheap games. And Android was the wild west.
The main way to circumvent piracy was the same start to how to endlessly monetize a service: host everything on a server and charge for in game currency instead of the game itself. Phones are always online and it was over a decade after consoles started getting thst ability, so there wasn't as much resistance in the mobile scene. It was inevitable in some ways.
It's actually still the case that these games will apply effort to keep you playing. Apple Arcade games get paid based on how much time users spend in their specific app. My partner was a...
So Apple arcade sounds like a good value. No ads or in-app purchases, and games maybe don't have to try to condition you to keep playing or spending more money.
It's actually still the case that these games will apply effort to keep you playing. Apple Arcade games get paid based on how much time users spend in their specific app. My partner was a developer of one of the more popular games on Apple Arcade. She was telling me about some changes that were planned for one of her titles, for the purpose of increasing user retention and engagement. I was struck by the absurdity of the situation. The company has multiple people with phds and masters degrees, wicked smart people, focused solely on finding ways to entice other people to play solitaire games for longer periods of time. That was one of those brief moments of clarity where I realize that our society is truly weird.
Same thoughts, I really dislike in-app purchases for any form of game currency (but I'm ok with buying cosmetic items). As a gamedev, I want to make satisfying mobile games under $5 with zero ads...
Same thoughts, I really dislike in-app purchases for any form of game currency (but I'm ok with buying cosmetic items). As a gamedev, I want to make satisfying mobile games under $5 with zero ads and no in-app purchases. If I must make a free-to-play game, I'd like it to have no ads and only cosmetic in-app purchases. Polytopia's a good example.
Yeah I tried Apple Arcade and felt the same. This didn’t feel like when you’d pay $8 and get fruit ninja or angry birds. It just felt forced somehow. The games just weren’t fun in a way that’s...
Yeah I tried Apple Arcade and felt the same. This didn’t feel like when you’d pay $8 and get fruit ninja or angry birds. It just felt forced somehow. The games just weren’t fun in a way that’s hard to explain.
That's really what it boils down to. There's no Phil Spencer at Apple. Arcade always felt like an afterthought-- selling people a solution to a problem Apple is responsible for (predatory...
At the very top of the company there needs to be a passion and respect for games, and there just isn’t.
That's really what it boils down to. There's no Phil Spencer at Apple. Arcade always felt like an afterthought-- selling people a solution to a problem Apple is responsible for (predatory IAP-infested "free" games.)
Unfortunately, unlike say Xbox Game Pass, which has a wide genre span and serious investment behind it (to the tune of the $75bn acquisition of Activision Blizzard), Apple Arcade has not nearly had that level of investment.
At this point all I can hope for is that Fantasian gets a release on consoles because it is legitimately the best thing to come out of Apple Arcade. But it appears the game was fully funded and published by Apple, so… I guess I'll just keep dreaming.
Yeah I assume the conversation around Apple Arcade went the same way as Stadia. "Hey, those games make a lot of money eh? We should do that." "What, you have to actually spend money to make money?...
Yeah I assume the conversation around Apple Arcade went the same way as Stadia.
"Hey, those games make a lot of money eh? We should do that."
"What, you have to actually spend money to make money? Preposterous!"
In all fairness, it's probably more on Mistwalker than Apple, given their history. I don't think any of their games have ever been ported. They just either sign perpetual exclusivity deals for the...
At this point all I can hope for is that Fantasian gets a release on consoles
In all fairness, it's probably more on Mistwalker than Apple, given their history. I don't think any of their games have ever been ported. They just either sign perpetual exclusivity deals for the IP and/or they just never care about availability of their games, as long as it gets out there.
The author of this piece used to work for Apple in the App Store team, if that matters. I mention it because it's not disclosed on that page and I think it should be.
At the launch of Apple Arcade I also worked at Apple, but not in the App Store team. When it was announced I found the instant cancellation of the Trial period very un-Apple like. That made me think that somebody, somewhere lacked belief in the offering.
My thoughts on Apple Arcade: it's great that games don't have ads or microtransactions in them, but that doesn't automatically make them all great. The reality is that most Apple Arcade games have a long, flat difficulty curve and slow-paced progression so as to keep the player invested longer than the free trial period. So really we're no better off. It's just a different type of nastiness.
As long as people don't want to pay premium for premium games (and even then, premium games are struggling to make a profit), I don't really see how that can be avoided. You either have a game that tries to drip feed content or console games port for a quick buck while not taking advantage of the different control scheme. Neither are optimal from a game design POV.
The secondary issue I see is that no new company wants to make the massive investment needed to break into that premium market. Microsoft took decades to really get in and they are arguably still last in market share. I don't blame others for not wanting to try, but all this big tech seems to instantly want what the big 3 slowly invested in over decades.
And Ofc the main issue is that most people don't mind nor care about the f2p model. I hear the best market for this is actually families who are more conscious about having their wallet drained by unaware small kids, but who knows if that market can sustain such a service.
The long, drawn-out games were not present at Apple Arcade launch. It was a secondary strategy that appeared some time later. So, it definitely could be avoided ...because it already was avoided in the early days.
Yep. I finally caved because I found out there were more zen pinball tables and figured I’d find a few more games my speed. Really haven’t found much.
Metro + when I already have the original, finity, sts which I already have on pc, ditto on turmoil, and then tiny wings as a decent no thought time sink(that puts annoying achievements in the way of just doing the thing you want to do).
I’ve found little else that even catches my eye. It all looks like the same stuff
A few years ago I liked quite a few mobile games. It was pretty cool to get a little game for less than 5 dollars and play it for a few weeks. I stopped playing them when almost all of them became skinner boxes to get you to pay more than the games are worth.
So Apple arcade sounds like a good value. No ads or in-app purchases, and games maybe don't have to try to condition you to keep playing or spending more money.
But I don't know, I quit Apple Arcade after a short time because I really didn't like the games there. Some of them are just versions of typical app store games with the ads removed, so they are terrible. But there are others that are much better but are still not very interesting. Maybe it's just me, but somehow I feel like the soul was sucked out of the games to make them non-controversial. It's hard to explain, but there is something artificial or something about them. I would give specific examples but it's been a while and most of the games were not memorable enough. One was a "where's waldo" type game. One was sort of an puzzle adventure where you repair things. One was sort of a typing tutor. Anyway, there was just something boring and superficial about the games and I just can't put my finger on what it was.
When I was in high school, I saved up all my lunch money in freshman year to buy a first generation iPad. This coincided with what I think was the golden age of mobile gaming, where none of the games were well-monetized and there was a gold-rush of indie developers breaking into the scene. There were basically no in-app purchases, and games were usually a couple of bucks with no ads.
I remember playing OG Fruit Ninja, Angry Birds.
One of my favorites was called Tilt-to-Live, where you control a little arrow by tilting your device to escape enemies and collect power-ups in an area the size of the screen. It was incredibly addictive learning to thread the eye of the needle as the screen filled up with enemies.
There were a tower defense game involving aliens that was super fun.
I also remember some multiplayer strategy game that was kind of like Risk, but less complicated, real-time instead of turn-based, and involving conquering planets. (The skill was deciding how many of your planets to commit to an attack an enemy planet. Use too many ships and you'll be vulnerable to counterattack. Use too few and fail, and your enemy will regenerate their ships faster than you and attack you next.)
There was also a 2D platformer game where you played as a spider creeping through a house with beautiful artwork and music.
I can't remember what some of these games were called (and I lost my Apple ID from that time, since it was before I used a password manager).
When I got my new iPad Pro 12.9" and checked out the top games in the app store, none of them had a similar degree of substance and soul as those early games I played on my first iPad so many years ago. Maybe great indie mobile games exist, but they're not topping the charts anymore.
The state of the app store now is sad. I feel like every top downloaded game today has been around for 10 years.
At the start Square Enix used to develop entire JRPGs entirely for the iPod touch.
My favorite developer used to be Donut Games. They had like 40 games total and all were super fun with a unique art style.
That multiplayer strategy game sounds a lot like "Galaxy on Fire: Alliances." But that was an early mobile-based MMORPG, so not sure if it was the same. Either way, I had tons of fun in GOFA, sometime staying up way too late with my alliance-mates to protect our planets or attack others' planets, since the playerbase was global. We used LINE to communicate with each other and the rest of the playerbase, which was amazing compared to any chat program I'd seen or used previously.
But yeah, I agree with your assessment. I played tons of mobile games on my IPod Touch, iPod Mini, and then 4S. The whole reason I moved from Android to iOS was because the AppStore had better games (and was more organized). Sure there was some monetization, but it rarely got in the way of the game itself. I think the first game that I played where monetization seriously hindered gameplay was Candy Crush. Since then, I've mostly stayed away from mobile games. Every once in a blue moon I'll find something that looks interesting and fun, but I never really commit. Probably because I'm wary of their monetization schemes. I'm not anti-MTX; I buy skins and stuff on PC/console games. I just think it's way too predatory on mobile.
That looks a whole lot like Galcon, an older strategy game where you send triangles to planets to take them over and produce more units. Perhaps a clone?
Galcon 3 is being actively developed! I just joined Phil Hassey's Galcon3 discord and he's been posting updates since last November.
https://galcon3.com
That's the one
Sadly, no good deed goes unpunished. Even on IOS piracy was pretty big for those cheap games. And Android was the wild west.
The main way to circumvent piracy was the same start to how to endlessly monetize a service: host everything on a server and charge for in game currency instead of the game itself. Phones are always online and it was over a decade after consoles started getting thst ability, so there wasn't as much resistance in the mobile scene. It was inevitable in some ways.
It's actually still the case that these games will apply effort to keep you playing. Apple Arcade games get paid based on how much time users spend in their specific app. My partner was a developer of one of the more popular games on Apple Arcade. She was telling me about some changes that were planned for one of her titles, for the purpose of increasing user retention and engagement. I was struck by the absurdity of the situation. The company has multiple people with phds and masters degrees, wicked smart people, focused solely on finding ways to entice other people to play solitaire games for longer periods of time. That was one of those brief moments of clarity where I realize that our society is truly weird.
Same thoughts, I really dislike in-app purchases for any form of game currency (but I'm ok with buying cosmetic items). As a gamedev, I want to make satisfying mobile games under $5 with zero ads and no in-app purchases. If I must make a free-to-play game, I'd like it to have no ads and only cosmetic in-app purchases. Polytopia's a good example.
Yeah I tried Apple Arcade and felt the same. This didn’t feel like when you’d pay $8 and get fruit ninja or angry birds. It just felt forced somehow. The games just weren’t fun in a way that’s hard to explain.
That's really what it boils down to. There's no Phil Spencer at Apple. Arcade always felt like an afterthought-- selling people a solution to a problem Apple is responsible for (predatory IAP-infested "free" games.)
Unfortunately, unlike say Xbox Game Pass, which has a wide genre span and serious investment behind it (to the tune of the $75bn acquisition of Activision Blizzard), Apple Arcade has not nearly had that level of investment.
At this point all I can hope for is that Fantasian gets a release on consoles because it is legitimately the best thing to come out of Apple Arcade. But it appears the game was fully funded and published by Apple, so… I guess I'll just keep dreaming.
Yeah I assume the conversation around Apple Arcade went the same way as Stadia.
"Hey, those games make a lot of money eh? We should do that."
"What, you have to actually spend money to make money? Preposterous!"
In all fairness, it's probably more on Mistwalker than Apple, given their history. I don't think any of their games have ever been ported. They just either sign perpetual exclusivity deals for the IP and/or they just never care about availability of their games, as long as it gets out there.